British champ signs for Aces

Belle Vue have signed British champion Chris Harris and leading Australian star Rory Schlein to spearhead their Elite League challenge when the new season starts in March. Harris, the world number six, joins the Aces after seven years at Coventry while Schlein, currently racing in the four-round Australian championship, is returning to the club where he spent the 2004 season.

Belle Vue have signed British champion Chris Harris and leading Australian star Rory Schlein to spearhead their Elite League challenge when the new season starts in March.

Harris, the world number six, joins the Aces after seven years at Coventry while Schlein, currently racing in the four-round Australian championship, is returning to the club where he spent the 2004 season.

Cornishman Harris, 28, makes no secret of the fact he likes racing on the Kirkmanshulme Lane circuit and proved it by winning the Peter Craven Memorial Trophy last season, despite being disqualified from his first race.

The signing of Harris, who also won the British title 2007 and 2009, is a huge boost for the Aces as they needed a new No 1 to replace Dane Hans Andersen.

The Great Britain World Cup captain will be the only Brit in the 2011 World championship Grand Prix after finishing sixth of the eight automatic qualifiers last season. His greatest achievement was to win the British Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in 2007.

Truro born Harris, who has an 8.06 average, began his speedway career in Youth Development League racing at St Austell and Exeter in 1998 and had spells with Trelawny and Peterborough before joining Coventry in 2004.

He said: "There had been a lot of rumours about me moving but nothing was happening because of the ban on transfers. I had got fed up with it all to the point of thinking I’d just ride in Europe and give Britain a miss.

"But I am English and I want to ride in England. I’ve always enjoyed coming to Belle Vue, I like the track and get on well with the management so this is a great move for me."

Schlein, 26, returns to Belle Vue on a 6.92 average after finishing last season at Peterborough.

The former Australian Under-16 and Under-21 champion, from Darwin, joined the Aces from Edinburgh but then moved on to Coventry, despite efforts to keep him.

It was a move which caused some friction between him and some fans but Aces’ supremo David Gordon says that Schlein has been keen to return.

Gordon said: "We are delighted to have completed the top end of our team with riders who really want to come to the club.

"Harris’ record speaks for itself and I would like to think that, if we’d been in charge in 2005, Schlein may never have left in the first place."

The Aces, who had already signed Danes Patrick Hougaard and Charlie Gjedde, have three places left to fill in the side.